Lakers News: Darvin Ham Takes Stock Of LA's Season At Midway Point

With 41 games in the can following LA's 122-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets yesterday, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was asked to take stock of his team's 2022-23 regular season so far, now that he is midway through the year.

Darvin Ham with his takeaways from tonight's loss against the Denver Nuggets. pic.twitter.com/Bxdill8jna
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 10, 2023

"A lot of what our record is, 19-22 I believe, is [due to] a lot of self-inflicted [issues]," Ham said. "I could immediately ring off about six or seven games that could've went our way that didn't. And so it's the process of constantly trying to sustain what you're doing well."

"[I like] our competitive edge, the way we lock down and defend at different moments, our togetherness, the way we share the ball at different moments, our accountability -- guys understanding if there's a breakdown, why the defense broke down or why we didn't get a good look on a particular offensive possession and acknowledging it and trying to do better."

"So based on those facts, I'd say we're trending in a great direction. We just gotta keep stacking. What's happened behind us, it's behind us, but we have to remember in order to sustain ourselves in the moment and constantly try to get better going toward the future."

In terms of self-inflicted issues, one of the biggest that pesters this writer at least is Ham's continued insistence on starting two point guards, Dennis Schroder and Patrick Beverley, in the backcourt. If this year's Patrick Beverley were, say, last year's Minnesota Timberwolves model, I could kind of get there. But as is, the team is ceding size to its opponents from the jump.

That doesn't just extend to Beverley, now a major offensive minus and not the amazing defender he once was. Ham routinely moves players up a position. Other recent examples of this include starting 6'4" Lonnie Walker IV at small forward, starting 6'6" Juan Toscano-Anderson at power forward (that was done due to the absence of LeBron James, but even still, JTA is not a power forward), and, yes, starting Anthony Davis at center. Davis looked great at the five... but only lasted 25 games before he got his annual lower body injury. Maybe he's got a point about playing as a power forward, just from a preservationist perspective.

The big issue, above any rotational strangeness, is the roster. LA needs significant help on the perimeter, both defensively and in terms of its outside shooting. Ham just guided a patchwork roster, dealing with a bunch of injuries, to an improbable five-game win streak, prior to this Denver loss without LeBron James. He's not the problem.

Shoring up key personnel around James and Davis really falls under the purview team president Rob Pelinka and his front office. Will they step up in time for the February 9th trade deadline?

Color me dubious.